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What → send → correspondents
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newsletter → sign → inbox
The sign is hard to miss as you drive along the Interstate 40 leaving Knoxville.
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you → miss → Knoxville
“Trump Superstore”, it booms.
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it → boom → Superstore
I had heard about these places – great temples to Donald Trump, packed with merchandise and paraphernalia – but had never been inside one.
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I → hear → one
Trump merch is usually sold by hawkers outside Republican events; this was a bricks-and-mortar shop, albeit on the barren side of a highway.
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this → sell → highway
Caps feature phrases such as “Trump 2028”, “Make America Charlie Kirk” and “Relax, It’s Just A Red Hat”.
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It → feature → Trump
Several T-shirts announce their wearer is proudly voting for a convicted felon.
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wearer → announce → felon
“I could shit a better president,” one cap says.
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cap → shit → president
Another says, simply: “86 46″.
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Another → say → ?
(“86” is a slang term in restaurants for getting rid of something, and some say that in mob lingo, it means to kill someone.)
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it → rid → someone
Behind the cash register, I meet Sharon Huskisson, who started working here when the store opened on April 1, 2024.
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store → meet → April
It’s owned by her 80-year-old neighbour, Bill Hays, who offered her the job.
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who → own → job
“I said, ‘Oh, that sounds interesting’.
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that → say → ?
And, of course, I love Trump, so why wouldn’t I
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I → love → Trump
,” Huskisson says.
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Huskisson → say → ?
“It’s been a big, wonderful ride for the last 2½ years, meeting some really cool, neat people, and everybody is of the same mindset.”
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everybody → meet → mindset
She pauses.
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She → pause → ?
“We have a few of them that are not.
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that → have → them
But we tolerate them.”
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we → tolerate → them
Huskisson says the Trump Superstore was packed as soon as it opened, through to the 2024 election, and past Trump’s inauguration.
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it → say → inauguration
“It was hard to even get in here.
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It → get → ?
People were lining up all the way to the parking lot.
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People → line → lot
When two left, we let two more in ...
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we → leave → two
It was amazing, we were like little creatures running around just trying to appease everybody.”
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we → run → everybody
It’s evident that’s no longer the case.
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that → ’ → ?
Only three customers appear during my hour-long visit – including a local couple, Karyn and Bill Robbins, who are adding more T-shirts and stickers to their substantial stocks of Trump gear.
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who → appear → gear
“We love to wear our shirts and hats out everywhere, showing our support for the president and for his cabinet,” says Karyn, 58.
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Karyn → love → cabinet
“I love everything he does.
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he → love → everything
He is thinking about America.
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He → think → America
And they can say all the bad things they want about him, but if you look, he is doing great things for America.
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he → say → America
You just have to look at what he’s doing, and have your eyes open.”
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eyes → have → what
Later, a woman enters the store and quickly buys a large “Gulf of America” flag, celebrating Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico early in his second term.
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woman → enter → term
This store is not the only one that’s closing down.
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that → close → ?
Trump Town USA in Boones Mill, Virginia, is shutting down, with The Wall Street Journal reporting its sales were just a 10th of what they were in 2024.
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they → shut → 2024
A store in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, closed its doors in July after six years.
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store → close → years
Another in Manchester, Tennessee, has also wound down.
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Another → wind → Manchester
When I ask Huskisson why the Knoxville store is closing, she puts it diplomatically.
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she → ask → it
“I think everything runs its course.
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everything → think → course
It’s not anything against Trump or anybody else.
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It → ’ → Trump
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
